At the beginning of the program on 103FM, Arel Segal and the guest presenter, retired Major-General Yitzhak Brik, discussed the progress of the fighting in the Gaza Strip and the weakening of Hamas.
“There are reports that the head of the Mossad is formulating the Israeli response to the mediators’ proposals, although it is unclear if there is a coherent strategy in light of Hamas’s response,” said Segal. “How can we advance here before we’re in a military event? The issue of the hostages is a strategic event.”
He added further, “We see that the IDF’s ability to tail Hamas is diminishing, as well as the level of operational mistakes. The question after today is very significant. There was a dream here from the perspective of those who managed the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, [but] the pressure on the government did not work.”
In response, Brik argued, “Hamas still feels very strong. It is willing to give up homes and people who are killed, but it feels that we are not likely to topple it. Therefore, it uses cynical language, it does not want to reach an agreement on the hostages. They have time. To weaken their capabilities – it seems we are not approaching it. Hamas will continue to exist.”
Israel hoped Egypt would sit in custodianship of the Philadelphi Corridor
Regarding the fighting in the Philadelphi Corridor and in Rafah, Brik said, “The Philadelphi Corridor, we all know we have evacuations from Sinai under the corridor. The IDF did not want to sit along this corridor for the next few years because it did not have the power to do so and because there would be many casualties, so it hoped that the Egyptians would do it.
“But today, there is a very big problem with Egypt. They are not ready to do it in our place. They also do not agree for us to do it from this side of the corridor, and they threaten that if we start doing various things that will cause masses to cross into Sinai, then they will stop the peace.
“Although it’s a poor country, it’s the strongest army in the Middle East today – 4,000 tanks, 2,000 modern ones, hundreds of the most advanced aircraft, and a navy of the best there is.
For years, they’ve been building highways into Sinai. We’re the target. They’re not building the army for anywhere else. This means one decision to cancel peace, they become an enemy state, and we don’t even have a brigade to stand against it.”
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